DeKALB | Students will have the opportunity to help choose the next logo for NIU.

A major portion of the Board of Trustees’ Legislation, Audit and External Affairs committee meeting Thursday was focused on the university’s branding and marketing campaign. Kathy Buettner, vice president for University Relations, gave a presentation to the committee about a new tagline NIU will implement this fall along with a new university logo.

Buettner said the research process to develop a new brand and tagline for NIU began about six months ago. A committee of 45 people, all of whom were NIU-affiliated, was formed to come up with several taglines about what NIU meant to them.

The NIU Public Opinion Laboratory (POL) also conducted a scientific study of about 2,000 individuals and produced a theme NIU will adopt in the fall.

“Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow” was the theme that tested the best among the different stakeholders polled, Buettner said.

Buettner said three new logo concepts are under consideration. One logo is a graphic representation of the NIU name; the second is a different version of the current text logo; the third would be architecturally-based. Buettner said the hope is the data will be as clear as it was when trying to establish a tagline and that one design concept will test the best among the others. 

In order for products to contain the new logo and be ready by the fall, the design needs to be completed by April, Buettner said.

“It’s a qualitative purpose,” Buettner said. “It’s not just vote the one you like. We need to know why.”

Students will have the opportunity to give input, said Joan Laurino, assistant to the vice president of University Relations after the meeting. Laurino said the three conceptual designs will be put online for about two weeks and will allow students to give a reason as to why they like a certain concept or not.

University Relations will also be conducting a scientific poll with POL that will survey over 2,000 participants. The process is already under way, Laurino said, and the survey should be online by the middle of March.